First ABD - South Africa!

[themouseketeer]

Hello everyone! Long time lurker, but finally pulled the trigger and booked my first ABD for South Africa in April 2023. I usually plan everything myself, but I thought with logistics of traveling through such a large country, best to leave it all to Disney.

I have a couple of questions around arrival. I am debating whether or not to get in a day earlier, the flights I checked get in at 5 pm on arrival day. Worst case scenario, if everything gets delayed and we miss the first night, does anyone have experience in getting caught up to the rest of the group? Luckily for South Africa I think the first couple days are all in the same city, but wondering if they drop you into activities or perhaps you just miss whole days. And if we do opt into insurance, does that mean you get a refund for any days that are missed? Of course we wouldn't want to miss any days, but we have a bit of a constraint on which days we can leave, so wanted to understand the worst case scenario.

Also, any idea why they removed the Knysna Elephant Park from the itinerary? And finally, any helpful tips for this type of adventure are greatly welcome! Thanks in advance!

 

[sayhello]

I haven't done this ABD, but I *always* advise people to arrive at *least* a day prior to the start of your ABD. Even in the best of times, stuff happens, flights are delayed, connections are missed, flights get cancelled. South Africa *is* one of the few ABDs that doesn't really start until the morning of Day 2, so you won't miss actual activities or the welcome dinner for Day 1. But if you arrive mid-day Day 2, you will need to catch up with the tour. I'm sure the Adventure Guides will be monitoring your situation, and will likely arrange for you to meet up with them at some point during the day, either by taxi or the motorcoach returning for you if it's not needed for a while, or something of that nature. It will just depend on the logistics of where they are, how you would get to them, if they are in the middle of something that can/can't be joined mid-way, etc.

But you won't have a chance to catch up on sleep, and the jetlag could be bad. Which would mean you'd be too dead tired to enjoy what you're doing, and might have to bow out of the dinner activities on Day 2 (the "Celebration of Africa" dinner).

I understand if it's impossible to leave a day or two early, but if it is at all possible, my feeling is why fly out the day of and do that to yourself? Why start a vacation with such a stressful situation? These days, it's really important to be patient and understanding, as things just *are* going wrong. Adding in the fact that you'd be missing out on parts of your amazing trip, stressing on just how late you'll get there, how you will meet up, when you will eat, will your luggage make it there with you, it just makes for a very stressful start to something meant to be so less stressful.

I'm arriving a day early for my upcoming ABD, and I'm just flying from Ohio to New England. I just don't want to have to worry about it.

Just my opinion. YMMV.

Sayhello

 

[cedricandsophie]

We just got back from a 20 day tour around Africa. Not ABD but through Amawsterways. We flew into Johannesburg. A day early. Not sure how Disney is structured but we just did a tour on our own the first day and then caught up with the group. I would definitely recommend coming in as early as possible. Africa has notoriously bad air issues. We weee lucky. We flew from chicago to Newark and then straight on to Johannesburg and we’re only 3 hours late Another couole coming that sane day had their flight canceled, ended up staying overnight I. The Atlanta airport and arrived day and half late. They missed first whole day

Africa is a remarkable place. We ended up in six countries. The tour guides were fabulous and we saw incredible amounts of animals. Every guide spoke excellent English but try to remember to slow down your speech a bit. There were a few times when our guides had some trouble understanding our American slang and found it amusing. Depending on where you go the poverty can be a bit overwhelming please be kind. African time is not American time. It all runs a bit slower. And not all bathrooms have seats, sone can be the standup kind.

I’m not sure where ABD goes. We went to Victoria falls, a cruise on chobe river, Johannesburg and Tanzania.

 

[themouseketeer]

I haven't done this ABD, but I *always* advise people to arrive at *least* a day prior to the start of your ABD. Even in the best of times, stuff happens, flights are delayed, connections are missed, flights get cancelled. South Africa *is* one of the few ABDs that doesn't really start until the morning of Day 2, so you won't miss actual activities or the welcome dinner for Day 1. But if you arrive mid-day Day 2, you will need to catch up with the tour. I'm sure the Adventure Guides will be monitoring your situation, and will likely arrange for you to meet up with them at some point during the day, either by taxi or the motorcoach returning for you if it's not needed for a while, or something of that nature. It will just depend on the logistics of where they are, how you would get to them, if they are in the middle of something that can/can't be joined mid-way, etc.

But you won't have a chance to catch up on sleep, and the jetlag could be bad. Which would mean you'd be too dead tired to enjoy what you're doing, and might have to bow out of the dinner activities on Day 2 (the "Celebration of Africa" dinner).

I understand if it's impossible to leave a day or two early, but if it is at all possible, my feeling is why fly out the day of and do that to yourself? Why start a vacation with such a stressful situation? These days, it's really important to be patient and understanding, as things just *are* going wrong. Adding in the fact that you'd be missing out on parts of your amazing trip, stressing on just how late you'll get there, how you will meet up, when you will eat, will your luggage make it there with you, it just makes for a very stressful start to something meant to be so less stressful.

I'm arriving a day early for my upcoming ABD, and I'm just flying from Ohio to New England. I just don't want to have to worry about it.

Just my opinion. YMMV.

Sayhello

Thank you for your insight, I appreciate it. Post pandemic travel is definitely an unknown, which is what makes me nervous. I'd prefer not to get in so late, especially jet lag being a factor, so we'll have to see if we can end up moving the schedule around. Good to know that the ABD guides will most likely be monitoring the situation.

 

[themouseketeer]

We just got back from a 20 day tour around Africa. Not ABD but through Amawsterways. We flew into Johannesburg. A day early. Not sure how Disney is structured but we just did a tour on our own the first day and then caught up with the group. I would definitely recommend coming in as early as possible. Africa has notoriously bad air issues. We weee lucky. We flew from chicago to Newark and then straight on to Johannesburg and we’re only 3 hours late Another couole coming that sane day had their flight canceled, ended up staying overnight I. The Atlanta airport and arrived day and half late. They missed first whole day

Africa is a remarkable place. We ended up in six countries. The tour guides were fabulous and we saw incredible amounts of animals. Every guide spoke excellent English but try to remember to slow down your speech a bit. There were a few times when our guides had some trouble understanding our American slang and found it amusing. Depending on where you go the poverty can be a bit overwhelming please be kind. African time is not American time. It all runs a bit slower. And not all bathrooms have seats, sone can be the standup kind.

I’m not sure where ABD goes. We went to Victoria falls, a cruise on chobe river, Johannesburg and Tanzania.

Wow a day and a half late, that's crazy. We are planning on flying direct from Newark to Cape Town, but if flights get canceled so easily that's still concerning. ABD's itinerary is Cape Town -> Knysna -> Kapama Game Reserve -> Johannesburg. Unfortunately no activities are scheduled in Johannesburg for ABD, but did you find it worth doing a tour on your own?

Did you end up doing a safari game drive in South Africa? I've been to Tanzania a few times and love the Serengeti and Crater. I was wondering how comparable the game drives in South Africa are. I wish the itinerary went through Krueger but I was reading Kapama is still good, just smaller.

Did you also carry around a lot of cash with you in South Africa or were credit cards pretty widely accepted?

Thanks for all the info!

 

[cedricandsophie]

Wow a day and a half late, that's crazy. We are planning on flying direct from Newark to Cape Town, but if flights get canceled so easily that's still concerning. ABD's itinerary is Cape Town -> Knysna -> Kapama Game Reserve -> Johannesburg. Unfortunately no activities are scheduled in Johannesburg for ABD, but did you find it worth doing a tour on your own?

Did you end up doing a safari game drive in South Africa? I've been to Tanzania a few times and love the Serengeti and Crater. I was wondering how comparable the game drives in South Africa are. I wish the itinerary went through Krueger but I was reading Kapama is still good, just smaller.

Did you also carry around a lot of cash with you in South Africa or were credit cards pretty widely accepted?

Thanks for all the info!

We did not do game drives in South Africa. We did in Botswana, In the Chobe national park from our little cruise on the Chobe river and then for 7 days in Tanzania. I’ve not heard of Kapama but hopefully You Can see most of the Big Five. We saw multiples of all species except for rhino. We even saw part of the migration crossing the Mara river in Tanzania, it was incredible. And ngorongoro crater was an ecological wonder….so much wildlife.

we hired a great guide in Johannsburg through our hotel. he Took us through Johannesburg and Pretoria. Very interesting And fascinating stories about growing up with Apartheid but we also did a tour with our group Which did different areas. We saw where Mandela lived and had lunch in his home that is now a small hotel. Soweto (we did a walking tour through Soweto, the poverty was horrifying but our tour guide there was building a community center for early childhood education and job training, very inspiring.). If you want an education on apartheid, Soweto, Mandela…I highly recommend seeing Johannesburg and Pretoria. We had one night to ourselves while in Johannesburg and ended up with some of our group at a restaurant in sand ton, a suburb of Johannesburg and close to our hotel. We hired a taxi to take us to The Butcher Shop. Excellent dinner and wine. For two dinners and a bottle of excellent South Africa wine we paid less than $50. Our private guide was about $60 for four hours and we gave him $20 tip

we have been to Cape Town before. I hope the tour covers Robbin Island where Mandela was imprisoned. It’s about an hour ferry ride from Cape Town. Well worth the trip. An educational experience thst every American, regardless of age, should see. If it’s not on the tour, try to do it yourselves.

we carried a lot of cash for tips About $1500, in 20, 10, 5 and 1. but we were gone almost 3 weeks And ended up at several different lodges. We came home with quite a bit left but our pre trip information gave us the guidelines for tipping our local guides and for the most part, required cash. At our lodges, we put tips for the staff on a credit card. One of our lodges in Tanzania had the most wonderful staff member assigned to our group. Even though we were only there for 2 nights, He and I bonded because one of his daughters had my name. i ended up buying his children small toys in the gift shop and we gave him a very nice tip as well as left tips for the rest of the staff on our credit card.
We had an incredible guide on the Chobe River and for 4 days, we gave him $200, more than expected, but he was well worth it. We did the same for our drivers/guides in Tanzania we had two over 7 days and both were great. I didn’t feel uncomfortable carrying cash. We just left it In our room safe when we were out. Our tour covered tips for picking up baggsge etc. and all of our meals and drinks were covered but we usually left additional tips because we can afford it and everyone was so appreciative.

 

[themouseketeer]

we have been to Cape Town before. I hope the tour covers Robbin Island where Mandela was imprisoned. It’s about an hour ferry ride from Cape Town. Well worth the trip. An educational experience thst every American, regardless of age, should see. If it’s not on the tour, try to do it yourselves.

Looks like the itinerary does not cover Robbin Island. Will definitely add that in if we end up getting in a day early.

I also hate carrying so much cash on me, so I was hoping to limit as much as possible.

Thanks for all your detailed info!

 

[sayhello]

I also hate carrying so much cash on me, so I was hoping to limit as much as possible.

Remember that your ABD will cover all tips during your trip except for the Adventure Guides and anything you do On Your Own. And I've been told ABD tips them well.

Apparently Venmo and Paypal are now officially accepted for tip payment. So you shouldn't need to carry any cash for that, either.

I really hate carrying cash on me, also.

Sayhello

 

[themouseketeer]

Remember that your ABD will cover all tips during your trip except for the Adventure Guides and anything you do On Your Own. And I've been told ABD tips them well.

Apparently Venmo and Paypal are now officially accepted for tip payment. So you shouldn't need to carry any cash for that, either.

I really hate carrying cash on me, also.

Sayhello

Good to hear, I did not know that, thank you! That makes me feel better about carrying less cash.

 

[jimmymc]

Remember that your ABD will cover all tips during your trip except for the Adventure Guides and anything you do On Your Own. And I've been told ABD tips them well.

Apparently Venmo and Paypal are now officially accepted for tip payment. So you shouldn't need to carry any cash for that, either.

I really hate carrying cash on me, also.

Sayhello

Our guides just gave us their personal Venmo and Paypal accounts. It was easy.

 

[jimmymc]

I would highly recommend leaving 1 or 2 days early. Flying from the US to South Africa is difficult, and if you can't make one flight you may be delayed 24 hours.

If you arrive a day late then you will join the group as soon as possible, but you probably won't receive any compensation, even with insurance. ABD can book you extra nights in the same hotel and will still pick you up at the airport.

 

[sayhello]

If you arrive a day late then you will join the group as soon as possible, but you probably won't receive any compensation, even with insurance. ABD can book you extra nights in the same hotel and will still pick you up at the airport.

They actually should be able to get compensation from travel insurance. It's called trip interruption coverage and is one of the things that trip insurance is for. They should be able to get compensated for a pro-rated amount for the day(s) missed on the trip. i.e., if it's an 8 day trip, and they miss 2 days, they'd get compensated for 2/8ths of the trip cost, or thereabouts.

ETA: Well, I just learned something. I went to insure my trip to verify that, and apparently not all policies will cover it if the delay is caused by the airlines' having staffing issues. They expect the airline to compensate you, but there's no way the airline is going to pay for missed days on a trip. The insurance policies will cover if you're delayed due to things like weather and unannounced strikes and mechanical failures. This is pretty disappointing.

Sayhello

 

[jimmymc]

They actually should be able to get compensation from travel insurance. It's called trip interruption coverage and is one of the things that trip insurance is for. They should be able to get compensated for a pro-rated amount for the day(s) missed on the trip. i.e., if it's an 8 day trip, and they miss 2 days, they'd get compensated for 2/8ths of the trip cost, or thereabouts.

Sayhello

Ok good to know. Is that included in the ABD insurance?

 

[sayhello]

Ok good to know. Is that included in the ABD insurance?

I just added an ETA to my post.

ETA: Well, I just learned something. I went to insure my trip to verify that, and apparently not all policies will cover it if the delay is caused by the airlines' having staffing issues. They expect the airline to compensate you, but there's no way the airline is going to pay for missed days on a trip. The insurance policies will cover if you're delayed due to things like weather and unannounced strikes and mechanical failures. This is pretty disappointing.

You'd really need to check with the insurance company that provides the ABD insurance to see if it's covered by their policy or not.

Sayhello

 

[themouseketeer]

I went to insure my trip to verify that, and apparently not all policies will cover it if the delay is caused by the airlines' having staffing issues. They expect the airline to compensate you, but there's no way the airline is going to pay for missed days on a trip. The insurance policies will cover if you're delayed due to things like weather and unannounced strikes and mechanical failures. This is pretty disappointing.

That's surprising to hear about airlines staffing issues, and quite irritating as I'm sure that's the reason for most delays these days. Think I'll still add insurance regardless, but suppose that's more reason to fly in early.

 

[sayhello]

That's surprising to hear about airlines staffing issues, and quite irritating as I'm sure that's the reason for most delays these days. Think I'll still add insurance regardless, but suppose that's more reason to fly in early.

If you haven't purchased yet, it might be worth doing some research and see if any policies *do* cover it. When the pandemic hit, most policies did not cover Covid-19, because the policies explicitly excluded pandemics. The insurance companies figured out after people got really pissed that they needed to specifically add Covid-19 as a covered illness, or people wouldn't buy their product. It's possible the same could happen with airline staffing issues if enough folks get their claims denied and start really complaining.

But I agree. Irritating is a good word for it.

Sayhello.

 

[Foreveraprincess17]

Hello everyone! Long time lurker, but finally pulled the trigger and booked my first ABD for South Africa in April 2023. I usually plan everything myself, but I thought with logistics of traveling through such a large country, best to leave it all to Disney.

I have a couple of questions around arrival. I am debating whether or not to get in a day earlier, the flights I checked get in at 5 pm on arrival day. Worst case scenario, if everything gets delayed and we miss the first night, does anyone have experience in getting caught up to the rest of the group? Luckily for South Africa I think the first couple days are all in the same city, but wondering if they drop you into activities or perhaps you just miss whole days. And if we do opt into insurance, does that mean you get a refund for any days that are missed? Of course we wouldn't want to miss any days, but we have a bit of a constraint on which days we can leave, so wanted to understand the worst case scenario.

Also, any idea why they removed the Knysna Elephant Park from the itinerary? And finally, any helpful tips for this type of adventure are greatly welcome! Thanks in advance!

Hi,

You are going to have an amazing time. We did ABD South Africa a few years ago. I can't begin to tell you how amazing South Africa is.

You will most definitely want to arrive a day early. It's a long trip. Plus you will want to shop in Cape Town at the Mall before the Adventure begins and if you fly in on the day of the start of the Adventure your flight may be delayed until the next day. You may then miss Table Mountain because of this. Table Mountain is not to be missed!! Have a great trip!!

 

[WeLoveABD]

Hello everyone! Long time lurker, but finally pulled the trigger and booked my first ABD for South Africa in April 2023. I usually plan everything myself, but I thought with logistics of traveling through such a large country, best to leave it all to Disney.

I have a couple of questions around arrival. I am debating whether or not to get in a day earlier, the flights I checked get in at 5 pm on arrival day. Worst case scenario, if everything gets delayed and we miss the first night, does anyone have experience in getting caught up to the rest of the group? Luckily for South Africa I think the first couple days are all in the same city, but wondering if they drop you into activities or perhaps you just miss whole days. And if we do opt into insurance, does that mean you get a refund for any days that are missed? Of course we wouldn't want to miss any days, but we have a bit of a constraint on which days we can leave, so wanted to understand the worst case scenario.

Also, any idea why they removed the Knysna Elephant Park from the itinerary? And finally, any helpful tips for this type of adventure are greatly welcome! Thanks in advance!

Just searched for Africa trips and found your post-- hope the trip went well! We are heading to Cape Town in late May -- any restaurant recommendations near the V&A waterfront?

 

[fosterkittymom]

I would recommend coming in a day early. If you arrive late, it may be difficult for you to catch up to the group mid-day. Some days we drove quite a distance away and I don't think it would be possible to catch up. Plus, the daily itinerary in Cape Town can change (on day 2 they may do what is scheduled on day 3). The guides look ahead at the weather forecast and try to make sure they go to Table Mountain on a good day. If visibility is poor, the cable car cannot run. Also, at least when I was looking at flights, your choices are limited. We really only had a choice of one flight if we wanted to fly nonstop.

My trip was in June 2022. Knysna Elephant Park was removed from the itinerary because they were under investigation regarding their treatment of the elephants.

 

[themouseketeer]

Just searched for Africa trips and found your post-- hope the trip went well! We are heading to Cape Town in late May -- any restaurant recommendations near the V&A waterfront?

Loved our time in South Africa, I will never forget it! We ate by the waterfront a few times, and all the restaurants were pretty good. If you enjoy fine dining, we liked The Pier the best. It's about a 10 course tasting menu, so well priced, and extremely delicious!